Conventional reclining chairs and seats designed for residential, business, and vehicle use often have seat backs that are too short to support the head of tall individuals. Upon reclining, the individual's head tends to cock rearwardly over the seat back, rather than being supported by the seat back's anterior face. Conventional reclining seats can thus be quite uncomfortable, particularly for tall passengers on commercial airlines who are required to sit in a stationary position for long periods of time.
Various detachable headrests have been designed for mounting to the top of seat backs in order to provide greater support for the head of individuals who are taller than the seat will accommodate. However, known detachable headrests have not found wide acceptance in the aircraft industry. Reasons for this may include the bulkiness of the headrest, the difficulty and/or expense of securing the headrest in place, and safety concerns associated with the headrest.
For example, detachable headrests disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,020,573 and 2,001,396 to Pumphrey; 1,565,514 to Schumacher; and 471,049 to Barth all include wire or metal rods that extend upwardly above the height of the seat back to form the headrest frame. Such conventional headrests present a saftey hazard in an aircraft environment, due to the likelihood that an attendant or passenger may be thrown off balance and fall onto the headrest. The upwardly-projecting rigid frame portions could result in severe injury in such circumstances.
Additionally, conventional headrests are typically difficult or costly to install on seat backs. For example, the headrest disclosed by Pumphrey U.S. Pat. No. 2,020,573 requires the placement of sockets secured to the seat back that receives downward-projecting frame members. A cloth flap extending downwardly from the headrest over the anterior of the seat back also aids to secure the headrest in place, but most of the load is taken by the frame members engaged in the seat sockets. Installation of the sockets on each seat within an aircraft would be prohibitively expensive.
Conventional headrests are also often relatively large due to the required mounting hardware included therewith and thus require large storage volume. Pumphrey U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,396, Barth U.S. Pat. No. 471,049, U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,878 to Mungovan, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,660 to Stratton each disclose headrests including frame members that extend downwardly on either side of the seat back to secure the seat back in position. These projecting frame members increase the headrest length, and thus the storage volume required. Also, the projecting frame members could potentially result in injury to passengers during installation and removal.
Other conventional headrests have relatively short clamps that grasp the upper edge of the seat back, such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,553,385 to Ruth and 2,573,186 to DeMier Sr. Because of the absence of long extending frame portions, these headrests are somewhat easier to store. However, they are relatively unstable for an aircraft environment, and each includes a cushioned portion that projects forwardly of the anterior face of the seat back, thus causing the user's head to tip forward.
In summary, although many detachable headrests have been designed as disclosed in the prior art discussed above, none have proven satisfactory for regular commercial use in aircraft.